„President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has attracted opprobrium once more after controversially claiming that women who prefer not to have children or manage their households are ‚deficient,‘ regardless of their successes in the area of business. (…) In his disputed speech at KADEM’s opening ceremony in Istanbul on June 5, Erdoğan argued that a woman who abstained from maternity out of a desire to work was […]

„President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has attracted opprobrium once more after controversially claiming that women who prefer not to have children or manage their households are ‚deficient,‘ regardless of their successes in the area of business. (…) In his disputed speech at KADEM’s opening ceremony in Istanbul on June 5, Erdoğan argued that a woman who abstained from maternity out of a desire to work was ‚deficient‘ and ‚in denial of her womanhood.‘

‚Ideas that isolate women from the nature of their creation, from their social and biological realities are not defending women’s rights; to the contrary, they deprive women of their freedom and isolate them,‘ Erdoğan said. ‚One would not be achieving justice when equating gold with iron,‘ referring to women’s birth-giving as what makes her ‚golden.‘ ‚A woman who abstains from maternity by saying »I am working« means that she is actually denying her femininity. This is my sincere thought. A woman who refuses maternity and gives up housekeeping faces the threats of losing her freedom. She is lacking and is a half [a person] no matter how successful she is in the business world,‘ he added.“